House of Representatives of Japan

House of Representatives
衆議院
Shūgiin
The 45th House of Representatives
Coat of arms or logo
Type
Type Lower house
Leadership
Speaker Takahiro Yokomichi
since September 16, 2009
Structure
Members 480
45th House of Representatives of Japan seat composition.svg
Political groups

(as of election day)
     Democratic Party (308)
     Liberal Democratic Party (119)
     Komeito Party (21)
     Communist Party (9)
     Social Democratic Party (7)
     Your Party (5)
     People's New Party (3)

     Independents / Others (8)
Meeting place
The Diet.jpg
The House of Representatives Chamber
Website
www.shugiin.go.jp
Japan

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The House of Representatives (衆議院 Shūgiin?) is the lower house of the Diet of Japan. The House of Councillors of Japan is the upper house.

The House of Representatives has 480 members, elected for four-year terms. Of these, 180 are elected from 11 multi-member constituencies by a party-list system of proportional representation, and 300 are elected from single-member constituencies. 241 seats are required for majority. The House of Representatives is the more powerful of the two houses, able to override vetoes on bills imposed by the House of Councillors with a two-thirds majority. It can be dissolved by the Prime Minister at will, as it was by Taro Aso on July 21, 2009.

Contents

Right to vote and candidature

Differences between the Upper and Lower Houses

The House of Representatives has several powers not given to the House of Councillors. If a bill is passed by the lower house (the House of Representatives) but is voted down by the upper house (the House of Councillors) the House of Representatives can override the decision of the by a two-thirds vote in the affirmative. However, in the case of treaties, the budget, and the selection of the prime minister, the House of Councillors can only delay passage, but not block the legislation. As a result, the House of Representatives is considered the more powerful house.

Members of the House of Representatives, who are elected to a maximum of four years, sit for a shorter term than members of the House of Councillors, who are elected to full six-year terms. The lower house can also be dissolved by the Prime Minister or the passage of a nonconfidence motion, while the House of Councillors cannot be dissolved. Thus the House of Representatives is considered to be more sensitive to public opinion, and is termed the "lower house".

The term "lower house" is also a legacy of the 1889 Meiji Constitution, when the House of Peers functioned as an aristocratic upper house in a format similar to the House of Lords in the Westminster system, or the Herrenhaus in the Prussian-based German government of the time.

Current composition

(as of June 17, 2010)[1]

parliamentary group
(breakdown by party)		 Representatives
Democratic Party of Japan/Club of Independents
(DPJ: 305 + Speaker, NPD: 1, indep.: 1)		 307
Liberal Democratic Party/Independent Assembly
(LDP: 115 + Vice-Speaker, indep.: 1)		 116
Kōmeitō 21
Japanese Communist Party 9
Social Democratic Party/Shimin Rengō ("Citizens' League") 7
Your Party 5
People's New Party/New Party Nippon
(PNP: 3, NPN: 1)		 4
Sunrise Party of Japan 3
Group for upholding the interest and life of the nation (former "Hiranuma group") 2
Independents (incl. Speaker and Vice-Speaker)
(ex-LDP independent: 1, ex-DPJ independent: 1)		 4
Total 478

Latest election result

e • d Summary of the 30 August 2009 Japanese House of Representatives election results[2][3][4][5]
Alliances and parties Local seats +/− Block seats +/− Votes[6]  % PR block votes  % +/− Total seats +/−
(dissolution)		 +/-
   Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) Minshutō – 民主党 221 +169 87 +26 33,475,334 47.43% 29,844,799 42.41% +11.4 308 +193 +195
Social Democratic Party (SDP) Shamintō – 社民党 3 +2 4 −2 1,376,739 1.95% 3,006,160 4.27% −1.2 7 ±0 ±0
People's New Party (PNP) Kokuminshintō – 国民新党 3 +1 0 −2 730,570 1.04% 1,219,767 1.73% ±0.0 3 −1 −1
New Party Nippon Shintō Nippon – 新党日本 1 ±0 0 ±0 220,223 0.31% 528,171 0,75% 1 +1 ±0
New Party Daichi Shintō Daichi – 新党大地 0 ±0 1 ±0 included in others 433,122 0.62% 1 ±0 ±0
DPJ–SDP–PNP Coalition 228 +172 92 +22 35,802,866 50.73% 35,032,019 48.4% +10.2 320 +193 +194
   Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Jimintō – 自民党 64 −155 55 −22 27,301,982 38.68% 18,810,217 26.73% −11.45 119 -181 −177
New Komeito Party (NKP) Kōmeitō – 公明党 0 −8 21 −2 782,984 1.11% 8,054,007 11.45% −1.80 21 -10 −10
Japan Renaissance Party Kaikaku Club – 改革クラブ 0 — 0 — 36,650 0.05% 58,141 0.08% — 0 −1 —
LDP–NKP Coalition 64 −163 76 −24 28,121,613 39.84% 26,922,365 38.2% −13.3 140 −192 −187
   Japanese Communist Party (JCP) Kyōsantō – 共産党 0 ±0 9 ±0 2,978,354 4.22% 4,943.886 7.03% −0.22 9 ±0 ±0
Your Party (YP) Minna no Tō – みんなの党 2 — 3 — 615,244 0.87% 3,005,199 4.27% — 5 +1 +5
Others 0 ±0 0 ±0 1,077,543 1.53% 466.786[7] 0.66% 0 ±0 ±0
Independents[8] 6 -12 — — 1,986,055 2.81% — — — 6 ±0 -12
Total (turnout 69.28%; PR block turnout 69.27%) 300 — 180 — 70,581,679 100.0% 70,370,255 100.0% — 480 +2 —

Election results for major parties since 1960

e • d District vote for candidates by party
Parties 1960[9] 1963[9] 1967[9] 1969[9] 1972[9] 1976[9] 1979[9] 1980[9] 1983[9] 1986[9] 1990[9] 1993[9] 1996[10] 2000[11] 2003[12] 2005[13] 2009[14]
Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Jiyū Minshutō 57.6 % 54.7 % 48.8 % 47.6% 46.8 % 41.8% 44.6% 47.9% 48.9% 49.4% 46.1% 36.7% 38.6% 41.0% 43.9% 47.8% 38.6%
Japan Socialist Party (JSP) Nihon Shakaitō 27.6 % 29.0 % 27.9 % 21.4 % 21.9% 20.7% 19.7% 19.3% 19.5% 17.2% 24.4% 15.4% -
Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) Minshutō - 10.6% 27.6% 36.7% 36.4% 47.4%
New Frontier Party (NFP) Shinshintō - 18.1% (*) 28.0% -
(New) Komeito Party (NKP) Kōmeitō - 5.4 % 10.9 % 8.5% 11.0% 9.8% 9.0% 10.1% 9.4% 8.0% 8.1% - 2.0% 1.5% 1.4% 1.1%
Japanese Communist Party (JCP) Nihon Kyōsantō 2.9 % 4.0 % 4.8 % 6.8 % 10.5% 10.4% 10.4% 9.8% 9.3% 8.8% 8.0% 7.7% 12.6% 12.1% 8.1% 7.2% 4.2%
Liberal Party Jiyūtō - 3.4% -
Social Democratic Party (SDP) Shakai Minshutō - 2.2% 3.8% 2.9% 1.5% 1.9%
Democratic Socialist Party (DSP) Minshatō 8.8 % 7.4 % 7.4 % 7.7 % 7.0% 6.3% 6.8% 6.6% 7.3% 6.4% 4.8% 3.5%

(*) NFP-precursors Japan Renewal Party (Shinseitō) & Japan New Party (Nihon Shintō)

Note: Before the 1994 electoral reform all districts but one (Amami electoral district 1955-1990) were multi-member constituencies.

e • d Proportional block vote by party
Parties 1996[10] 2000[11] 2003[12] 2005[13] 2009[14]
Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Jiyū Minshutō 32.8% 28.3% 35.0% 38.1% 26.7%
Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) Minshutō 16.1% 25.2% 37.4% 31.0% 42.4%
New Frontier Party (NFP) Shinshintō 28.0% -
New Komeito Party (NKP) Kōmeitō - 13.0% 14.8% 13.3% 11.4%
Japanese Communist Party (JCP) Nihon Kyōsantō 13.1% 11.2% 7.8% 7.2% 7.0%
Liberal Party Jiyūtō - 11.0% -
Social Democratic Party (SDP) Shakai Minshutō 6.4% 9.4% 5.1% 5.5% 4.2%

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.shugiin.go.jp/index.nsf/html/index_kousei2.htm
  2. ↑ General election results final breakdown. Kyodo News. August 31, 2009.
  3. ↑ Psephos - Adam Carr. August 31, 2009.
  4. ↑ Nihon Keizai Shimbun. August 31, 2009.
  5. ↑ Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Home Office, Election Department (総務省自治行政局選挙部): Results of the 45th House of Representatives election, complete edition (45衆結果調全体版)
  6. ↑ fractional votes omitted
  7. ↑ Happiness Realization Party (kōfuku-jitsugen-tō) 459,387, Essential Party (shintō honshitsu) 7,399
  8. ↑ includes 3 members of the Hiranuma Group; 2 independents joined the DPJ parliamentary group immediately after the election
  9. ↑ 9.00 9.01 9.02 9.03 9.04 9.05 9.06 9.07 9.08 9.09 9.10 9.11 Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, statistics bureau: 衆議院議員総選挙の党派別当選者数及び得票数（昭和33年～平成5年）
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC/Sōmushō): 第４１回衆議院議員総選挙結果
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 MIC: 第４２回衆議院議員総選挙結果
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 MIC: 衆議院議員総選挙・最高裁判所裁判官国民審査結果調
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 MIC: 平成17年9月11日執行　衆議院議員総選挙・最高裁判所裁判官国民審査結果調
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 MIC: 平成21年8月30日執行　衆議院議員総選挙・最高裁判所裁判官国民審査結果調

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